Not alone
by Sophia Musgraves
Summary: The Gryffindor gang is playing hide-and-go-seek in a forest during the summer before seventh year starts, when a storm catches them by surprise. However, it's not just a storm that catches Lily...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys! This is my first published multi-chapter story, so feel free to review on what I need to improve on, etc. **

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter at all :'(**

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Lily Evans wasn't sure why she had agreed to play hide-and-go-seek in the woods several miles behind her best friend, Marlene McKinnon's house, but she sure knew she'd regret it.

There had been nine of them playing all together, the entire Gryffindor gang. This consisted of the girls; herself, Marlene, Alice Prewitt, Mary MacDonald and Hestia Jones. The Marauders had also come along; Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and of course, James Potter. The Marauders were, in Lily's opinion, a bunch of immature boys who liked making her life hell- well, except one, Remus Lupin.  
Although she had to admit that even Potter and Black had improved over time. Not that she'd ever tell anyone. Everybody knew Lily hated Potter and Black, and even though they had been getting along a bit better at the end of sixth year, the assumption still stood, and Lily wasn't going to go out of her way to correct it, no matter how many times Marlene had tried to get Lily to engage in a conversation about how tight James Potter's butt was. Secretly, Lily often admired Potter's 'tight' butt, just never when Marlene or anybody else was around to notice her approval of said butt. Outwardly, Lily had fumed at Marlene for inviting James along to their day of childish games, but if she was being honest with herself, Lily knew that she was a tiny bit _too_ excited at the prospect of hiding in small spaces with James. Maybe she should suggest they play sardines, she mused. Then she'd definitely get to be pressed up against James's body… Lily realised what she had been just thinking and blushed slightly.

Marlene eyed her beadily from across the circle they were standing in while they decided who would be the seeker for the last round of hide-and-go-seek- Sirius was arguing that it should be Mary, because she was first to be found last time, but Mary and Dorcas were arguing heatedly against this proposition, as Mary had been seeker four times already today. Lily sighed and rolled her eyes, shifting her weight on her feet. She was glad this would be the last game, because she was getting extremely worn out by all the running around she had had to do- Lily wasn't exactly an exercise person. She sighed again as Peter joined in on the argument, and James caught her eye from where he was standing next to Marlene. Lucky Marlene, Lily thought wistfully, before she caught herself. This was Potter! Nevertheless, she shared a sympathetic grimace with him. She got the feeling he knew she wanted to leave as soon as possible, especially as it was starting to get on in the afternoon ans it would no doubt be getting dark in a few more hours, but she was still surprised when he told everyone to shut up, and that he'd be seeker if they could just get going. Sirius clapped him on the back and James winced- clearly Sirius didn't know his own strength sometimes.

As he began to count, Lily purposely ran a bit faster than usual, not wanting Marlene to catch up and grill her about their exchange that had most definitely not gone unnoticed by Marlene's all-seeing eyes.

However, Lily would happily bet galleons that even Marlene hadn't seen the clouds that had began to gather over the sky, blocking the sun and darkening the forest, making it look much more menacing than earlier, when the sun had shone brightly, illuminating everything and making the forest look like something out of a muggle film.

Lily scowled at the clouds. She hated rain with a passion, nothing good ever came from a storm: Her hair went wild, her skin clammed up, and most importantly, she got cold. Really, really cold.

She started to quicken her pace now, running faster through the deep, dense forest, trying to find the perfect hiding place/shelter. She didn't notice the trees thinning, nor the shift in the air that promised new territory. What she did smell on the air was rain, and sure enough she soon felt one large, fat drop of water land squarely on her neck and begin to slither a trail down her spine, sending unwanted chills rolling across her skin.

That one drop was the first of many. Soon there were hundreds, thousands, falling from the sky and beating down on Lily. Cursing, she ducked under a tree, thoroughly unsatisfied with her poor shelter, but unable to see a better alternative.

It was then that she realised just how far she had strayed from their usual playing boundaries, and how different this part of the woods was. Instead of the slightly rocky terrain with tall, unrelenting, identical pine and willow trees, there was soft soil beneath her feet, turned to slippery mud by the downpour, with old leaves mixed into the sludge. The trees varied from tall to short, wide and thick to thin and weedy. There were green leaves, red leaves, yellow leaves and even trees with no leaves. In fact, Lily decided, it looked as though at least ninety percent of the trees in this part of the forest had no leaves, meaning that she was soaked to the bone much faster than she had anticipated. Lily shivered as the wind rustled menacingly through the bare trees, whipping at her thin, wet cotton shirt and teasing goosebumps to life across her slender frame. She was at a complete loss as to what to do, and being alone with the adrenaline no longer coursing through her body, Lily's mind began to stray to dark places, such as the fact she had no clue where she was, her complete lack of a wand, and most importantly, she had no idea who else could be wandering these woods with the prospect of a war dawning. She drew back against the tree and hoped fervently that the rain would stop soon, so she could get out of there.

But it did not stop, and as time passed, Lily got colder and colder despite her efforts to rub some warmth into her arms with her icy hands. She shifted from foot to foot, contemplating the idea of doing a few star jumps to increase circulation, seeing as there was no one around- or so she thought.

As she glanced around to see whether the coast was clear to make a fool out of herself, she found herself staring into a pair of cold, silver eyes.

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**A/N: I'd love you to leave a review to tell me what you liked about it, and what you think I need to improve on. I am open to all suggestions! :) **

**Who do you think the eyes belong to?**

**-Sophia**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: A bit of a darker chapter than I had originally intended, but don't worry, it will soon lighten up! It isn't under romance/humor for nothing :)**

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Lily's heart stopped, her stomach dropping unpleasantly as she realised just who those eyes belonged to: Lucius Malfoy, a Slytherin two years above her at school and most certainly belonging to the 'dark' side. Malfoy was clad in long black robes with his white-blonde hair slicked back into a immaculate pony-tail. He was grasping a staff with a silver snake head adorning the top, but Lily was not fooled: she knew his wand was hidden inside. Malfoy sneered at her and took a step towards her menacingly, and Lily hastily stepped back, hoping against hope that she didn't stumble upon anything in her hurry to put distance between herself and Malfoy. Suddenly, a mad cackle of laughter rang out, and Lily looked on helplessly, heart thudding in fear as a woman stepped out of the trees to stand beside Malfoy. Lily recognised her immediately- with her long unruly hair and eyes as black as death, Bellatrix Lestrange was nothing if not recognisable. And formidable.

"Come now, you aren't _scared_, are you, Mudblood?" she drawled, fingering her wand casually as she leered at Lily, "We're not here to hurt you- we were just watching you playing your games and thought we'd play a little game with you ourselves.." Bellatrix laughed again, throwing her head back before advancing towards Lily, Malfoy flanking her side.

Lily was paralyzed with fear- she wasn't a coward, anyone who knew her knew that, but when she was being approached by two mad 'death eaters' while she was wand-less she couldn't help but view her chances of getting out of there unharmed as very slim. She could either try to run, or scream for help, both options without very optimistic results, as surely everyone who had been playing hide-and-go-seek was on their way back to Marlene's, assuming Lily had headed off already. It would be a while before they realised that she was missing. And by the time they did, Lily could be dead, or worse.

Deciding that she'd go for the second option of yelling for help, Lily opened her mouth, but before she could get a sound out, Malfoy had whipped his wand out and silenced her.

"I don't think so, Mudblood," he said. "Nobody's going to be helping you tonight. You're all _alone_." But putting emphasis on the word 'alone' did not scare Lily as he had wished, instead it filled her with fury and courage as she struggled against the silencing charm- she _wasn't _going to die this way, not if she had anything to say about it! Her stomach was filled with a heat burning her insides as she thought of everyone she would be letting down if she died tonight; her parents, the girls, Marlene- hell, even Petunia. But mostly her mind lingered on a certain James Potter. She'd never get the chance to even apologise to him for being a arse. Sure, he was an arse too, but Lily didn't mind that so much anymore. Over the holidays he had been…Different. And Lily would be damned if she didn't get to know this new Potter. With that mind, she tore herself out of the silencing charm, and before the formidable pair in front of her realised, she let out a shout for help which caused Bellatrix to start in surprise, but she was not put off for long, as, seething with fury, she slashed her wand through the air towards Lily, crying "Crucio!"

Lily had no time to react before she felt the spell hit her stomach, causing her to collapse onto the ground, consumed with pain like nothing she had ever felt before. Writhing in agony, she let out scream after piercing scream and Bellatrix cackled like a lunatic over her, drunk on the power of pain.

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Less than half a mile away, James Potter's head snapped up as he heard a shout followed by several desperate screams that seemed to clench at his heart like an iron fist. He stood immersed by the trees for a moment, sick to his stomach. He knew that voice. He'd recognise it anywhere, even if it was screaming in pain. Lily.

Lily was in trouble. James jolted out of his stupor and thrust his hand into his robes for his wand before remembering he wasn't wearing robes, and he didn't have his wand with him. James swore loudly, causing a few birds that were huddling under a tree for shelter to squawk loudly and fly off. _Birds_, James thought. _Animals_. It was as if a light had turned on inside his head, illuminating his brain back to life, and shining upon his only hope for getting to Lily. He knew what to do.

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Meanwhile, Bellatrix had stopped crucio-ing Lily and was currently looking down at her in disgust, curled into a ball on the ground. Bellatrix stood over her and aimed her wand at Lily's arm before dealing with her the way she dealt with all scum with heritage like Lily Evans's. She inscribed the word 'Mudblood' into the fair pale skin, of Lily's forearm, watching as the blood started to seep put. Bellatrix spat on her before turning to face Malfoy.

Against her will, tears leaked down Lily's face, mingling with the rain that still pattered down, before sliding past her cheek bone and off the side of her face, splashing onto the words freshly carved into her arm then trickling into the mud she was lying in. Ironic really, Lily thought as her blood mixed in with the mud below. She could hear Bellatrix and Malfoy talking about her but their voices seemed dull and distant to her as she gave into the pain and sadness that washed over her. If they were going to kill her, Lily hoped they'd do it soon. She didn't know how much longer she could bear to have this sadness inside her. Lily didn't notice the voices about her stop abruptly, nor did she hear the thud of something extremely solid colliding with Malfoy and the grunt of pain that followed. She didn't hear anything, couldn't hear anything, not even the crack of the pair disapparating. She didn't feel anything either, just lay there in the mud staring at the word on her arm until her eyes were blurred with tears. She'd then blink and feel the sting of salt against her cuts before it was washed away by the rain.

But she did feel when a rough calloused hand cradle her cheek and brush those salty tears away, and she did hear the gentle voice of James Potter asking her if she was okay. Lily let out a shaky laugh at that, considering the situation he had found her in, before letting herself be bought to her feet and cradled into James's strong arms, lifted off her feet, and carried away.

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**Review, review review!**

**-Sophia**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three!**

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Soon enough Lily came to, and wriggled against James's hold. He put her down cautiously, looking at her with concern. "Are you alright to walk?" He asked uncertainly.

"'Course I am!" Lily said, trying for a joke to lift the worry written all over James's face even if she couldn't stop the slight tremble in her voice and through her body. James didn't seem convinced, but he let it go, and they started walking again. Lily had never been one for good co-ordination, but the amount of times she was tripping was on a new level, even for her, and James's frown deepened as they trudged along. Lily tripped once again, seemingly having lost control of her motor functions, and she went flying face first- or would have, if James wasn't there to catch her before she fell. One of his hands grabbed hers, while the other went around her waist to steady her.

"Th-thanks," Lily stuttered, having regained her balance. She noticed that while his hand had left her waist, he remained holding her hand, and to her surprise, she found that she didn't mind at all. Having his hand in hers warmed it, and comforted her, never mind the way it made her stomach clench. It wasn't like before, when her stomach had gone tight in fear and fury. This was…Pleasant. Against all odds, Lily began to feel better. She smiled up at James, who looked back at her, startled. He couldn't remember Lily Evans _ever_ smiling at him before, and quite frankly, he was a little shocked that she would choose to do so after being tortured by a maniacal witch- or at least he assumed she had been tortured. He hadn't asked her any questions, thinking she wouldn't want to tackle the topic just yet, least of all with _him_.

James was even more surprised when she broke the silence that had settled between them once more, by asking-

"Where exactly are we going, anyway? This isn't the way to Marlene's." James looked at her a tad apprehensively, not wanting to alarm her.

"Well, I thought we'd may as well go to mine, 'cause it's just about, say… half a mile away from here?" He replied. She smiled and nodded, shocking James beyond what he was before, and said something that made him stumble for the first time in Lily's knowing him; "Oh good. I've always kind of wanted to see your house."

James's jaw dropped, and Lily chuckled. She didn't really know why she was so calm about everything, but she supposed it had something to do with her relationship with Petunia, as bizarre as that seemed. She had always allowed herself a maximum of ten minutes moping and feeling sorry for herself, after one of their many arguments, or a particularly harsh comment sent her way. Lily supposed the habit had flowed into other aspects of her life, too, because she'd never spent more than ten minutes upset about anything, not after a jab from James of Sirius, not even after Severus had called her a- Lily swallowed thickly as she stopped that train of thought but she couldn't help but glance down at the word on her arm. Her blood had stopped running, probably around the time the rain had stopped, but now the word was there, clear as day and easy to read. Lily's stomach churned unpleasantly when she looked at it, but she knew that she'd never magically remove the scar that would no doubt form. It symbolized all that she was fighting for and that was enough motivation for her to want to keep it.

When Lily glanced down at her arm, James had too, and when he saw the word 'mudblood' cut into her arm just above where their hands were intertwined, he was filled with an emotion he wasn't unfamiliar with- he had felt it once before, although not as strongly as this, in their fifth year when that git, Snape, had called Lily that filthy word. Hatred bubbled in his gut and his jaw clenched in fury, hands twitching, longing to take his anger out on something that deserved it, like Bellatrix Black.

Feeling his hand twitch, Lily looked up at James in surprise, and was taken back by the tightness on his face and the way his body was radiating anger. She opened her mouth to say something, but he cut her off.

"Don't, Evans. Just-don't." James bit out.

Lily recoiled a bit at the renewed use of her last name, and looked away from him. She fixed her gaze forward again, and was surprised to see a large house, no, a large _manor_ in the distance. They were close enough to see a sign post outside the regal front gates, and Lily squinted to read it.

"Does- does that say _Potter Manor_?"

Lily gasped in disbelief, staring at the building. It was at least three stories high as far as she could tell, and spread over a fair bit of land, surrounded by trees. Lily swore she could hear a river as they drew closer to it. The outside of the house was painted a pristine white with windows dotted along the front, light gold window sills framing them all. A porch protruded from the front of the house with a pointed roof and pink roses climbed up the trellis that framed either side of it. It looked absolutely picturesque in the late afternoon sunlight that had come out from behind the stifling clouds that had produced so much rain earlier.

"Uh, yeah. It is," James said, slightly awkwardly, as if he was ashamed at it's grandeur "Er, welcome home, Evans!" There was the last name again, Lily mused. She supposed it was just coming out again after being angry at her, however indirectly.

"It's beautiful," she breathed in slight awe. Imagine spending a childhood _here_! James must have seen the look an her face because he chuckled softly, his free hand jumping to the back of his hair. The movement looked slightly odd to Lily, and it took her a second to realize that it was because he usually tousled his hair with the hand she was holding. _Still _holding.

"Oh!" She gasped, trying to extract her hand from his, but James just mock frowned at her and grinned, tightening his grip on her hand so she couldn't get free. After struggling futilely for a few more moments, Lily gave up and sighed, leaving her hand in the warm cocoon that James provided. Lily shot James a sharp look to tell him she wasn't amused, but he just smirked at her. At least she was getting back to normal, he decided.

And just in time! The pair had reached the gate, and James laid his hand against the metal bars for a second, before walking straight through them, tugging Lily along as they disappeared momentarily in a shimmer of gold. Lily tried not to gape, but her mind couldn't help whirring as she tried to figure out how that had happened, but before she could even ask, James seemed to have read her mind, as he said "Palm recognition magic. It recognizes my palm, Mum's, Dad's, and Sirius's. If someone else is at the gates, one of us has to confirm that can go in by touching our palm to a plate inside- you'll see." He smiled. 'It's a bit like those Muggle intercone things!" He said proudly. Lily giggled.

'Do you mean _intercom_?" She asked with a laugh, "And how do you even know about them anyway?"

James shrugged. "Muggle studies." He said simply.

Lily's jaw dropped yet again, "You took _Muggle Studies?_ And also, why does it recognize Sirius's palm?"

James's face darkened at the mention of Sirius. "He moved in with me after fifth year- His family…well…" His eyes drifted down to the word on Lily's arm and Lily frowned in confusion. What was that supposed to mean? But they had reached the front door now, so she decided not to press it. At least, not yet. James turned the door handle and stepped inside, pulling Lily in after him. Once again, Lily was struck dumb by the magnificence of the house. They were currently in a room that was easily bigger than her bedroom at home, but it was just the entrance hall. The walls were decorated with wallpaper that sported a curling gold pattern over a light cream colour, reflecting the outside of the house. The floors were a deep dark mahogany wood, perfectly polished save the mud and water her and James had just tracked inside. Lily shifted her feet guiltily and looked around to take in more of the beautiful room, but she was distracted by James looking at her in great amusement. Lily blushed and looked away, embarrassed to be caught staring. James just laughed at her before saying- "You probably want to take off your shoes, your feet must be absolutely frozen."

Lily glared at him, "I was just about to!" she exclaimed indignantly, grumbling under her breath, toeing her previously white shoes off and kicking them away from her. James sighed exasperatedly "Honestly, Evans. Have you never heard of putting things away?" He dropped Lily's hand to her disappointment -she had gotten quite fond of the way they had been fitting together, although she'd never admit it- and stooped down to grab her shoes before slipping his own off and opening a cupboard on his left, putting both pairs inside. Lily couldn't help but notice the size difference between his shoes and hers- Merlin he had big feet! Instantly, Marlene's voice rang through her head: "_You know what they say about men with big feet!_" Lily flushed as she could practically see Marlene winking wickedly at her.

James shut the cupboard doors with a bang and turned around to face her again. He raised an eyebrow at her slightly pink complexion. "Not checking out my bum, were you, Evans?" He asked cheekily. Lily just rolled her eyes. Yes, things were certainly getting back to normal.

It seemed that James's loud slamming of the cupboard doors had attracted people, however, and sure enough, a door opened into the room and Sirius strode through.

"_There_ you are!" He exclaimed, allowing relief to creep into his voice, "What have you been doing? You're all wet and muddy and- Are you _bleeding_, Evans?" James shot Siruis a look that clearly meant _don't mention the blood_, and said "Right. Yeah. I need to talk to you." Sirius nodded, his brow furrowed. "But where _were_ you? Your mum's been worried sick, not to mention-" He turned his gaze on Lily, getting louder by the second, "-Marlene's been so upset that she left you behind, she thought you were at hers already, but when we got there you weren't, so I flooed back here thinking you might have come here for some reason, bloody hell Evans, wha-"

"PADFOOT!" James yelled, shocking both Lily and Sirius, "Leave her alone! _It wasn't her fault._"

Sirius was stunned into silence as he stared at James. Then he marched up to him and laid his hand on James's forehead and cheeks while James stared at him, bewildered.

"Huh, no fever. You _seem _perfectly healthy." He raised his hand again as if to double check, but James swatted it away with a growl. Lily giggled, and Sirius turned towards her with his mouth open in shock- he had never heard Lily laugh at them before in good humour. Lily just rolled her eyes at him.

Suddenly the door opened again and a woman in her fifties walked in, saying "…hear you shouting James? I thought you were going to that girls hou-… Oh. Hello dear," She said in surprise, taking in Lily's bedraggled appearance. "And who might you be?" Lily blushed and opened her mouth to answer, but yet again, James cut in front of her- "Mum, this is-ow! What was that for?" He gasped, looking at Lily in annoyance. She stared back at him with narrowed eyes.

"I am perfectly capable of introducing myself, Potter. I'm not a cripple!"

"Wha- Evans! I was just _introducing _you for Merlin's sake! No need to get your knickers in a twist!"

"Oh please, don't think for any second that you have any effect whatsoever on my _knickers_!"

"I didn't mean it like- Oh for crying out loud! Introduce yourself then!"

"Thank you, Potter," Lily said, the epitome of innocence. James groaned in exasperation while Lily turned to face his mother, who was looking at the two of them with a slightly amused, slightly bemused look on her face. "I'm Lily Evans, nice to meet you," She said brightly, sticking out her hand to shake with Mrs Potter.

"_Oh_, of course you are!" Mrs Potter said, "James has told me _all _about you, all good things of course." She smiled.

Lily narrowed her eyes at James who was glaring at his mother in much the same way Lily was glaring at him.

"Anyway, Lily, it's nice to finally meet you, but perhaps you'd like to change out of those clothes? You look awfully wet."

All eyes went to Lily's clothing at once, and while two pairs of eyes quickly averted themselves, James couldn't seem to drag his eyes away- Lily had been wearing a light white cotton shirt and green army shorts, but seeing as she had gotten, as James's mother had put it, _wet_, her shirt had gone completely see through and now stuck to her skin, accentuating every curve and drawing attention to the fact that she had chosen a bright red, lacy bra to wear that morning and her breasts were on show for everyone to see as the wet cotton was hugging the swells and dips of them. Suddenly very self-conscious, Lily crossed her arms over her chest. Noticing James was still staring at her body, she risked removing an arm to wack his shoulder.

"Ouch!" He cried.

"Serves you right." Lily said, trying to ignore the way James's own light blue button down shirt was clinging to his body and boy-oh-boy was it a good body, Lily observed. As a neutral third party of course. The way it accentuated his toned chest and stomach wasn't sinfully delightful to her, no way. "Er-" Lily seemed to have lost her sentence somewhere along with the trail of hair that was dusting from below James's belly-button to his- "My eyes are up here, Potter." Lily finally finished off. She heard something that sounded suspiciously like the word 'hypocrite' poorly disguised as a cough coming from the direction of Sirius. Lily turned to fix him with her famous death glare but he just stared back innocently. A slight, _real,_ cough came from Mrs Potter, and once she had everyone's attention, she continued; "How about three go upstairs, James, you give Lily something of yours to wear and then show her to the kitchen, will you? I'll make us some hot chocolate and we can have a chat." Lily didn't miss the way her eyes flickered to her forearm, so she just nodded and turned to James.

"C'mon," He said, motioning through the doors, "This way!" They began walking down a hallway and up the first flight of stairs before passing at least seven doors before James said "Padfoot, I'll meet you in your room, yeah?" Sirius nodded and went through the doors, sending a sharp questioning look at Lily's retreating back. James just shrugged and continued down the hall to the next door.

Suddenly he felt the urge to be slightly embarrassed- no girl had ever gone into his room before, and if he had known that a girl, but not any old girl, _Lily Evans_ was going to be coming inside his room today, he knew that he would definitely have tidied up a bit. Lily noticed his hesitation, and rolled her eyes.

"Man up Potter. It's only me."

James laughed, "And that's supposed to make me feel better?" He teased. Lily grinned at him before turning the handle and walking inside.

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**Review? *does puppy eyes* hehe **

**-Sophia**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Just thought I'd clear up a bit of confusion for 'manda panda' and any others- Lily, James, and the rest aren't in Hogwarts when this story takes place, in the first chapter I mentioned that they were playing in the woods behind Marlene's house, not the Forbidden Forest. I am well aware that nobody can apparate in and out of Hogwarts haha if I really had put that in a story Hermione would come for me! ;) So thank you for your nit picking, but it's not necessary this time :) I am glad you're enjoying this though! It means a lot.**

**Also, thank you to 'The DA is dressed to the nines' for the encouraging words! I was beginning to wonder if I should continue, but I definitely will now :)  
**

**On with the story!**

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"Wow." Was all she said. James looked at her, head tilted to the side, waiting for an explanation.

"It's just, well, much tidier than I expected." Lily said, an air of surprise in her voice. In fact, the room was just as she had expected, only tidier; The room was painted a light cream with red edging around the ceiling and carpet, with a large Gryffindor banner adorning one wall, photos stuck beneath it. His broom was propped up in the corner by his sloppily made bed. One wall had a dark, wooden wardrobe against it along with a set of drawers. James strode over to the drawers while Lily wandered to look at the mass of photos and other clippings stuck under the Gryffindor banner.

There were several of the four Marauders, more of just him and Sirius, a few of him and Remus, and less still of himself and Peter. There were also multiple pictures of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, some holding the cup, some just of them mucking around. There were a couple of his friends by themselves or with girls- mainly Sirius, again, but the pictures that really drew her attention were those of herself. There weren't that many, but enough to notice. There was one of her in first year, with her hair flying wildly out and seeming to yell at the camera- Lily remembered this, it was after James and Sirius had put a potion in her pumpkin juice that made it impossible for her hair to sit still and she had to go around the whole day with hair that kept rising straight up on her head and waving around, resembling a fire on top of her head. Lily had been so mad at the time, but looking at the photo, she could tell exactly why everyone had been laughing at her that day. Lily giggled softly at the image of her younger self shaking her fist at the camera, not noticing when James walked over to see what she was laughing at. When he did, he laughed nervously and ran his hand through his hair.

"Aw, Lily, you don't want to look at them…C'mon, just sit down and I'll find you something to wear." He tugged gently at her arm and Lily scoffed at him.

"Hah! And miss out on seeing all these great photos? I don't _think_so, Potter." Grinning cheekily at him, Lily turned back to the photographs on the wall. He groaned. If Lily didn't spot the photo of-

"What's this?" Lily asked softly, touching a fingertip to his favourite photo on the wall, one of him and Lily in the common room late at night, sitting close together and looking at a textbook.

In the photo, James seemed to say something, making Lily look up at him in surprise before smiling slightly and ducking her head back down to look at the book between them, the smile still on her face.

"Oh, um. Remus took it by accident," James explained, laughing quietly "He didn't realize that the camera had film in it and he was just clicking at everything around the common room being a bit of a dic- er, idiot. See, look at this one." James shifted a photo of Peter and Sirius aside to reveal a shot clearly taken by Remus, _of _Remus, pouting in a mock seductive manner before catching a glance of something or someone out of frame and bursting into laughter, throwing his head back. Lily giggled at the photo and James grinned at her.

"He'd probably kill me if he knew I had showed you," he confessed. "Whenever he comes over he tries to hide it behind other photos but it's my favourite one of him, so he knows not to destroy it. He just looks so… happy."

Lily smiled brightly. "Yes, it definitely does show him at his best, doesn't it" she said, straight faced. James rolled his eyes at her and then gripped her shoulders and steered her to his bed and forcing her to sit down on it. It was Lily who rolled her eyes next, grumbling about not being an inanimate object for him to push around. James just smirked and walked back over to his drawers before grabbing a pair of sweat pants and his old Quidditch shirt and tossing them to Lily. Try those on, I think those are probably the only clothes I own that would possibly fit you. Lily shook out the pants and stared at them.

"You really think _these_ are going to fit _me_?" she asked incredulously. "They're huge!"

James gasped loudly and put a hand to his heart dramatically. "Are you calling me _fat_, Evans?" he cried.

Lily snorted. "C'mon," she whined, "_look_ at them!"

James looked at them.

"Well, unless you want to wear no pants at all…"

"I'll wear them, I'll wear them!"

"Good."

A moment passed where James looked at her expectantly.

"Er, Potter, you know if I'm going to try these on, you need to leave?" Lily asked.

"Oh- right. Yes. Okay. I'm just going to talk to Sirius quickly, will you be okay on your own for about ten minutes? I swear, I'll be just in the other room if you need anything, and if nothing fits, just find something else, you can alw-"

He was cut off by Lily "-_Yes _James! I'll be fine, honestly!" She rolled her eyes at him to show just how capable she was and he laughed nervously, hand jumping into his hair again.

"You sure? 'Cause I can always just turn around so you're not alo- okay, okay I'm going!" James let himself be pushed out the door by Lily who leaned against it with a sigh once he was gone. This was the first time she had been alone since- well, The Incident, as she had taken to calling it in her head. Finding herself strangely touched by James's thoughtfulness and slightly panicky by being alone, she was almost tempted to take him up on his offer of him just turning around, but after catching sight of the Gryffindor banner, she steeled her resolve. She didn't need to rely on other people, _especially_ not James Potter.

With that thought in mind, she promptly stripped her wet top off and subtly tried to squeeze any moisture out of her bra before deciding it was a lost cause- she'd never get it dry, and she didn't relish the prospect of talking to James's mother with two damp patches on her shirt. How undignified! Lily stood there for a bit, weighing the possibilities of what to do, before she came to the conclusion that she'd just have to go bra-less and hope nobody would notice. She sighed and began to reach behind her to un-clip it, when she heard a grunt and a crash come from behind her.

She shrieked and span around to face where the noise had came from.

"James!" She yelped, "Have you not heard of knocking?!"

"I did!" James protested, arms up as a sign of peace, "I just forgot to grab some clothes of my own so I knocked to come back in but you didn't answer and I got worried so I came in in case you had collapsed or something but you were fine so I just figured I'd quickly grab my stuff- I didn't expect you to start taking your _bra_ off, honest! And can you please- I don't know- _do something_ about that? You're getting me very er…_distracted!_"

Lily gasped and grabbed the shirt off his bed and held it up to her body, flushing as she realized what he meant by _distracted_. She couldn't help but look down and sure enough, his pants definitely looked…fuller than before. Her eyes jumped away, her heart skittering as she locked eyes with James. His eyes had gone dark and he stared at her in slight shock, not having recovered _at all_ from seeing Lily Evans clad only in a lacy red bra and pants, and anyway, what did she think she was doing, _squeezing_ herself? The rational part of his brain was telling him that her underclothes were probably just wet, but the hormone filled James told rational James to shut up. James took a step towards Lily, desire pumping through him, and to his surprise, she didn't move away. In fact, if anything, she seemed to be leaning towards him slightly. James didn't need anymore encouragement. He closed the gap between them in two swift steps and reached out an arm to pull her closer to him by her waist. His hand fitted perfectly in the curve of the small of her back and his other hand reached up to caress her cheek gently. Lily sighed softly, and inched her hands up to rest on his chest briefly before burying one hand in his hair and one hand at the back of his neck, pulling him ever so slightly closer to her. They were so close now that James could feel Lily's breath ghosting on his lips and Lily could feel James's firm chest against her. James moaned quietly as she shifted against him and Lily smiled slightly, tilting her head up a bit more, and just as James came closer, lips barely brushing against Lily's, the door slammed open to reveal a highly annoyed and oblivious Sirius who strode in demanding to know what was taking James so bloody long to grab a shirt and pants, before stopping dead in his tracks.

Lily and James leapt apart, Lily looking mortified, James looking mutinous.

"I-I need to, um-find clothes, er, yes. Clothes."Lily stuttered, realizing she was exposed to the whole room as the shirt she had been clutching to her body had fallen to the floor as she had wrapped her arms around James's neck. Oh Merlin. There were so many things wrong with that sentence.

She turned her back to James and Sirius, shoving her hands through her damp hair.

James swore softly and avoided Sirius's gaze boring holes in him.

"Lily? Er-"

"I need to get changed, James." Lily said, her voice strained. I'll get you when I'm done, 'kay?"

"Alright," James said softly. "And- Lily?"

Lily turned around to face him again, ignoring Sirius who was still standing at the door, still relatively shell-shocked despite trying to catch James's eye.

"I-" James started but Lily shook her head, eyes wide and frightened.

"Just- just go, James."

James looked at her for a moment, scrutinizing her face before nodding and leaving the room with Sirius behind him.

"Hey, at least you're on first name terms now!" She heard Sirius say brightly, before a definite growl came from James and then a thud of something heavy-perhaps Sirius's body-, being shoved into a wall.

Alone once again, Lily took a trembling breath in, touching her fingers to her lips as she realized what had almost happened. And what she had almost _enjoyed_. Marlene would love this one, Lily thought absently as she remembered the feel of James's hard, warm body pressed against hers as he held her tight against his chest and… Lily shook her head, trying to rid her mind of the thoughts plaguing her, and the butterflies dancing in her stomach. Now was not the time.

Now was the time to get dressed. Glancing around to make sure the room was definitely empty, Lily un-clipped her bra and kicked it away, much as she had done with her shoes earlier, before grabbing the shirt James had tossed her off the ground and shrugging it over her head. It settled at mid-thigh and the arms came a fair way past her hands. Bloody long sleeved Quidditch jerseys, she grumbled to herself, rolling them up to her wrists and then shoving them a bit higher. Right. Top half done. Now for the pants. Lily didn't even both trying on the sweat pants, knowing they would be far too large for her around the waist, even if she did pull in the drawstring. Lily crossed the room to the dresser and yanked open drawers until she came to the pants drawer. A quick look through told her that James had been right- the sweatpants had been the pants most likely to fit her- everything else was even bigger. Lily groaned. She couldn't go out in just her knickers! Especially after what had just happened. Even if the Quidditch jersey covered everything vital, Lily didn't feel comfortable talking to Mrs Potter in only a shirt that said 'POTTER' all over it- what would she think?!

Then Lily had an eureka moment.

She quickly opened the topmost drawer to find just what she wanted- James's underwear. Blushing slightly at what she was doing, Lily grabbed the first pair of boxers she found but a quick look at them told her they were still far too large. Lily tossed them behind her shoulder and dived down to the very bottom of the pile and found a pair that felt very promising. When she pulled them out, she wasn't disappointed- they would definitely fit her. The only thing wrong with them was the pattern. The main part of the silk was green, like her eyes, and they were patterned with, well, lilies. She really hoped they were a joke pair. Tossing those over her shoulder too, she rifled through the rest, occasionally pulling out a pair, but always discarding them like the others. She soon came to the realization that she really had no choice. She had to wear the lily boxers. Sighing deeply, Lily searched for the pair amongst the other clothes she had thrown to the ground. There was a wide range of both boxers and pants, and it took her a minute to locate the lily ones. Slipping off her army shorts, Lily thought about her underwear. It was still damp, but did she really want to risk wearing no knickers in front of James and Sirius? Lily decided she'd may as well risk it. She was a Gryffindor, after all. Lily peeled off her knickers and chucked them behind her before slipping on the silky boxers. Well, she decided, they felt nice against her skin, if nothing else. Now that she was dry and much warmer, Lily found herself in a much better mood. She was about to leave the room to fetch James, when she glanced behind her and saw the state it was in. Lily sighed. She supposed she ought to clean it up… but then again, it wasn't her room. Shrugging, she left the room and walked down the hallway, opening the door to Sirius's room confidently.

Only it wasn't Sirius's room. Blushing and stammering her apologies, Lily closed the door on what seemed to be a library cum study with a man who was immersed in his studies. Or had been, anyway. Although why you'd choose to have a study next to James Potter's room did not make sense in Lily's mind.

Retracing her steps along the corridor, she came to the door on the _other_ side of James's room. This time, Lily knocked, having learnt her lesson, and waited for someone to invite her in. After getting the all clear, Lily cautiously opened the door, not wanting to intrude on another innocent scholar. But it was Sirius and James, both looking as though they had finished a very grim conversation- not exactly what she was expecting after having _almost_ kissed James before. But then the other events of the day came back to her and she blew out a breath, feeling the foreboding feeling settle in her stomach again. It had disappeared before, but now it was back with a vengeance James looked at her in concern but she just smiled and joined the two of them on the bed, choosing to sit on the safe side- Sirius's side, as apposed to the side where a certain boy and his hormones sat. Sirius noticed this and smirked.

"Evans," he said slyly, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Lily snorted, and jabbed an elbow in his side.

"Ow!"

"James, are you ready to show me your kitchen?" Lily asked.

"Oh you want to see his _kitchen_ do you?" Sirius grinned, winking at her.

James jumped up, making sure to wack Sirius on the head as he did so.

"Ow! Guys, be careful! I have delicate skin, it bruises easily!" He moaned. Both Lily and James rolled their eyes at this, then grinned at each other, before hurriedly looking away. Sirius snorted.

"I've just got to change quickly, and then we can go," James said, answering Lily's question. "I'll be right back."

* * *

**A/N: As always, reviews are much appreciated!**

**-Sophia**


	5. Chapter 5

Once they were left alone in Sirius's room, he turned to Lily.

"Break his heart and I'll break your face," he said threateningly. Taken aback, Lily couldn't formulate a reply, but- "No need to say anything," Sirius continued. "Just thought I'd let you know. Anyway, I know it probably won't mean much, but I'm sorry for what my cousin did."

Lily looked at him in bewilderment, still reeling from Sirius's last comment. "Oh, I don't think I've met your cousin?"

"You have. This afternoon. James told me what she did to you, and, Merlin, Evans. I'm so sorry," as Sirius put an arm around her, Lily understood.

"Bellatrix… that's-that's your cousin?" She whispered

Sirius laughed bitterly. "Yeah. She's mental as can be. The entire family is. There's nothing I'd like better to do than- doesn't matter. I just hate her _so much_." He forced the last part out through gritted teeth, and Lily wrapped her arm around his back, too.

"You don't deserve it." She said quietly.

"Deserve what?"

"To be born into that family. You're so much better than that, and I'm glad you're in Gryffindor. Sometimes it's nice knowing you've got our backs when the Slytherins are around." Lily sat up suddenly, lifting her head off Sirius's shoulder where it had been resting. "In fact, I reckon you're one of the best blokes around. I may not have realized it, well, ever, but now I do and you're fairly brilliant, aren't you? No wonder you hated me hanging out with Severus so much-he's exactly what you didn't want to turn out to be, isn't he?" She added the last part as almost an afterthought but knew she had guessed rightly when she heard Sirius breathe in sharply.

"Hey, now," he said, shaking it off, "_I'm _supposed to be the one making _you_ feel better, remember? Not the other way 'round!"

Lily laughed. "Ten minute wallowing session has passed. I'm over it."

Sirius looked at her incredulously. "You got tortured by two death eaters who were planning on killing you, and you're _over it?_"

"Yep."

He shook his head in disbelief. "You're not. I can see it in your eyes, Evans." He wrapped his arm back around her again, pulling her into his side for a one armed hug, "But you will be. You're a strong one."

Lily smiled and leaned into him. "I know."

They stayed like that, sitting in silence together for a while more, until James came bursting through the door.

"Bloody hell Evans, what did you do to my room? It looks like a hurricane hit!"

Lily looked at him sheepishly while Sirius let out a loud bark of laughter and got off the bed, extracting himself from around Lily and bounding out of the door. They heard another bout of laughter from the other room and James sighed and rolled his eyes before holding a hand out to Lily and jerking his head towards the door. She stood and took his hand before they set off down the hallway. When they were about halfway down, they heard Sirius's voice come from behind them- "Nice pants, Evans!"

* * *

When they reached the kitchen door James dropped Lily's hand and ran his own through his hair nervously before speaking.

"Look- Lily, I'm sorry about before. I didn't mean to take advantage of you or anything after you've had a shock. I guess I just wasn't thinking it was a mistake, and I'm really sorry."

During this speech, Lily's heart had sunk in disappointment- a mistake, was it? She sighed and stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek.

"It's fine," she said, before entering the kitchen.

Inside, Mrs Potter was standing over a gas stove stirring something inside a saucepan. Sweet smells wafted towards Lily the moment she stepped inside, and Mrs Potter turned towards her, smiling.

"Hi Lily, dear. I'll be done here in just a second, just take a seat." She said, waving her arm at a small table in the corner. Lily made her way over to it and sat down slightly apprehensively, thinking about the conversation they were no doubt about about to have. A moment later, Mrs Potter bustled over, carrying two mugs of steaming hot chocolate, before opening the door to another room- "I'll be right back," she promised.

She returned carrying a bowl of clear liquid and a cloth, which she set on the table between Lily and herself before sitting in the chair opposite Lily and cradling her mug in her hands.

"So," she said, not unkindly. "Tell me what happened."

And with those words, Lily found herself pouring out the tale of The Incident. By the time she had finished, she was exhausted- both physically and mentally drained, and Mrs Potter had moved from opposite her to beside her, holding her hand comfortingly. Their mugs of hot chocolate were still mostly full and now stone cold, forgotten. Lily let out a big shaky breath after she finished talking, and Mrs Potter, seeing the look in her eyes, gathered the young girl in her arms and held her close as she finally let the tears come.

* * *

And that was how James found them.

Lily curled up in his mother's arms, fast asleep and cried out, while his mother sat still and held her up, occasionally stroking her red hair that had finally dried and was now curling slightly. James tiptoed up to them and spoke to his mother in a hushed tone; "Is she alright now?"

His mother nodded slightly, trying not to wake her. "I think she'll be just fine soon enough. But we still have to clean that cut up, before it gets infected."

"Was it Bellatrix?" James asked quietly, "Me and Sirius thought it would be, but we weren't sure…" He trailed off at the affirmative look in his mother's eyes, and sighed in disappointment, thinking of how Sirius must be feeling.

"She's just lucky Bellatrix didn't cruciate her for very long- she shouldn't be feeling too weak, just a bit sad. You need to take care of her, James." His mother said the last bit firmly, eyeing him. He nodded quickly in response and gulped. His mother could be intimidating at times. James opened his mouth to ask how, but he closed it again as Lily stirred in her sleep, making little mewing noises as she snuggled closer to Mrs Potter. She moaned slightly, seeming to want to talk, but unable to get the words out. James and his mum watched in amusement as she muttered garbled words as she slept, nothing making sense, until-

"Jam…James…no… don't let go. You have a nice-hrmmggh" Mrs Potter's smile widened as her son went a light shade of pink.

"Er, I think we should wake her up now," he said hastily.

Mrs Potter nodded, and shifted her arms so she was holding Lily's shoulders, which she then shook gently. Lily grumbled in her sleep, but with another, firmer, shake, she sat up, rubbing at her eyes in bewilderment as she tried to figure out where she was. She looked around, and her eyes latched onto James. A smile spread across her face as she looked at him.

"Hi," she said, her voice husky with sleep. She blinked a few times, and looked down at the arms holding her.

"Oh." Whose arms were those? She twisted in her seat to see Mrs Potter smiling gently back at her.

"Oh!" Lily cried "Did I fall asleep? Sorry!" Mrs Potter just laughed and winked at her.

"It sounded like you had a pretty good dream, so I didn't think I ought to wake you."

Frowning, Lily tried to recall it. "Hey, I did too!" She said happily. "I don't remember it, but if was definitely a nice one." Smiling, she looked up at James again, but found that he was looking at his feet, a red flush spreading up his neck. Huh, Lily thought. Weird.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Well, we thought we'd get that nasty cut cleaned out first, then you should floo call Marlene to tell her you'll be staying here tonight instead of at hers- actually, James, you can do that while were doing Lily's arm- then we'll have a bit of dinner, or you can go straight to sleep. I've already flooed Marlene to tell her you're safe, don't worry."

Lily nodded. "Sounds good, thanks." She said. James's jaw dropped. Lily wasn't going to complain about having to stay at his house instead of her best friend's? What had the world come to? Catching his look, Lily rolled her eyes at him. She then shifted so she was back on her own seat a bit more, and pulled the bowl and cloth towards her.

"Lets get this show on the road!"

Mrs Potter chuckled at her enthusiasm. "This might sting a bit…" She warned as she soaked the cloth in the solution.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Lily had learnt a whole new meaning to the word 'stinging'. Her arm felt as if it was on fire, and after Mrs Potter had wrapped it in a bandage and told her she was free to go, Lily was so tired once more that she just wanted to go to bed and sleep for a century, at least. She wandered up the stairs behind a house elf, Tinky, who Mrs Potter had instructed to show Lily to James and Sirius's rooms. Lost in her daydreams, Lily did not realize that they had reached the door to James's room until Sirius yanked it open, looking around to see who was there. He started when he saw Lily standing there, swaying slightly on the spot with a beatific smile over her face and half closed eyes.

"Evans!" he said in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

Lily shrugged and smiled. "Just wanna get inta bed Siriss" she moaned, pushing past him and walking towards James's empty bed and plopping down on it. She started to lift off her shirt, obviously forgetting that she was in the presence of two men and didn't have any pajamas to change into. Before she could so much as get the top past her belly button, both James and Sirius were beside her, tugging it down in horror.

"No, Evans don't do that," Sirius cajoled, "this isn't your room, okay, you're across the hall- hey, Prongs, grab her another shirt or something will you? I think she wants to wear something lighter for bed." James sprang up and grabbed a shirt not unlike the one he had been wearing before, only this one was white and long sleeved.

"An knicka's" Lily slurred, watching James, "I nee' knicka's to sleep."

"Er-"

"Over there, Prongs, hanging off your broom" Sirius pointed in amusement at the knickers he had spotted earlier . James swallowed thickly and gingerly picked up the now dry, lilac knickers that had lace around the edges and a tiny bow on the front. How had he not noticed them in his room before then? He strode over to Lily and handed her the clothes, making sure she had a secure grip on them before Sirius hauled her up, ignoring her protests, and steered her through the door and across the hall.

"Now, Evans," Sirius said firmly, making sure she was listening to him, "If you need anything in the night, you wake up _James_, alright? _Not_ me. I'm not having my beauty sleep disturbed by you." Lily snorted and giggled at him. He sighed and span her around to face the door directly across the hall from them

"That's James's room, okay, Evans? You go there if you need help."

Lily nodded and giggled again. Sirius looked up at James worriedly. "I think she inhaled some fumes from whatever your mum was using."

James just laughed and opened the door to Lily's room, making sure she got to the bed alright.

"Goodnight, Lily," he said softly

"Nigh' Jam," Lily sighed, reaching her arms around him and kissing him sloppily on the cheek before lying back on the bed.

"Night, Evans," Sirius said, voice laced with amusement. Lily lifted a hand up and waved at him, hand flopping everywhere. She giggled at her hand and caused both boys to roll their eyes and leave the room. How Lily managed to get dressed into the shirt and knickers, she would never know, but she did, and then promptly fell asleep, snuggled under the covers.

* * *

**A/N: Hey, you just finished reading,**

**and this chapter was crazy, **

**but there's a button, **

**so hit review maybe. ;)**

**Hehe hope you're enjoying this!**

**-Sophia**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thank you all very much for the lovely reviews, you guys rock! And especially thank you again to 'The DA is dressed to the nines' for saying that I had a nice flow to my writing! You're making me blush girl!**

* * *

In her dream, Lily was alone. She spun around, trying to see anyone she knew, but all she could see was the darkness, and it was suffocating her. She gasped for breath but she couldn't get any air, she was only breathing in mud, thick and cold. She tried to call for help, but the mud crawled down her throat and she couldn't speak, couldn't breathe, couldn't see. A pair of silver eyes appeared and she crawled towards them, reaching out. Just as she got close enough, they disappeared and then re-appeared in a new place and she crawled towards them again and again, only to have them disappear every time. Soon the blackness was filled with pairs of silver eyes blinking at her, always just out of reach. If only she could get to the eyes, then she could go home. Lily started sobbing in desperation and someone had heard her- a figure was walking out of the swirling darkness, banishing the mud as they walked. "Sev!" Lily gasped, recognizing them. "Sev, you've got to help me! They're watching me!" Severus just looked down at her for what seemed like a lifetime, before his voice rang out loud and clear. "We don't help _mudbloods_," he sneered at her. She could feel the mud creeping up again, threatening to bury her while she begged at her former best friend's feet. "You're all _alone_" He said, before departing in a puff of smoke. The word echoed in her dream, getting louder and louder, reverberating inside her very heart; _alone, alone, alone_…

Lily woke up, gasping and crying. She was shaking all over as she lay there, trying to calm herself. _It's just a dream, it's just a dream _she said but every time she almost fell asleep again, the word 'alone' would echo in her mind and she'd be jolted awake again. There was no use, she decided. She just wasn't going to get to sleep tonight- unless... Lily thought about it for half a second before sliding out of bed and creeping across the hall. James wouldn't mind, she told herself. Lily eased his door open carefully and snuck across the room before lifting the covers and slipping underneath them, instantly warmed by the feel of James's warm body by her side. After stealing a bit of pillow, Lily fell asleep instantly and did not dream again.

* * *

James woke up feeling very warm and cosy in the morning, except for the strangely heavy pillow on top of him. He lifted his right arm to push it off him, as his left was trapped under it, but his arm did not connect with the soft cotton he was expecting. Instead it connected with something solid and warm. James frowned. What on earth was in his bed? He opened his eyes for the first time, squinting in the still relative darkness, hand roaming over the thing in his bed. His hand had traveled from Lily's back, down the curve of her waist and had just settled on her bottom before he realized that it was Lily. He inhaled sharply and withdrew his hand from her bottom, which was only clad in those lilac knickers. He stared at her, utterly confused as to what she was doing. She was resting her head in the juncture between his neck and shoulder, while her upper body was draped across his chest, an arm around his middle and the other under his neck. His gaze traveled downwards, to her legs. One smooth, pale leg was wrapped around one of his own, her foot wound around his calf, and her thigh was dangerously close to his- oh! Forget close, her thigh was now nudging his crotch that was getting suspiciously perky as she moaned in her sleep and snuggled in closer to his side, pressing herself into his chest and bringing attention to the fact that she was definitely _not _wearing a bra. The shirt she was wearing had ridden up during the night and was now bunched up around her middle, exposing her creamy stomach and the curve of her waist. She moved again as sunlight began to stream cautiously into the room, teasing her awake. She made that same sinful moaning sound as before, and buried her face into his neck, at the same time as trailing her hand from around his waist to rest on his chest. James let out a shaky breath as he tried to concentrate on other things, like hippogriffs playing Quidditch.

* * *

And so Lily woke. She too was warm and cosy, but most of all, she felt secure. A strong arm was circling her shoulders, holding her flush against a warm body. Her head was nestled in a very comfortable pillow made up of a shoulder and a neck. Lily breathed in deeply, inhaling the delicious scent that was enticing her to nuzzle in closer to her pillow- so she did, as the rest of her body woke up. One hand was positioned not very comfortably below the person's neck, and the other was resting on top of a very nicely muscled, _bare_ chest. She could feel the rest of this lovely chest along her arm and the entire front of her body. It seemed that she was lying on it-not that she minded- it felt unusually comfortable for a chest. Not that she had lain upon many chests. Then Lily became aware of what her leg was doing. It seemed to be tangled in between two other legs, but surely not. She rubbed her foot against one of them experimentally as if to check if it was in fact a leg. It passed her inspection. It was a leg. But whose leg?

Lily heard a sharp intake of breath as she trailed her fingers down the chest to explore it further, and at that, her eyes snapped open. _Who was she lying on?_

She sat up suddenly, removing her arm from under the body's neck and her leg from the other two legs, and knelt on the bed, intent on finding out whose bed she was in. It wasn't like her to jump into bed with strangers- or anybody for that matter. Unfortunately, the sudden rush of blood to head made her vision go grey for a few seconds, and she lurched forward, at risk of falling over. Her hands shot out in front of her to stabilize her, and as she gripped at flesh, she heard a strangled "Evans!"

Her vision cleared and Lily found herself looking down at an extremely horrified looking James Potter, and a pair of hands- her hands- gripping his upper thigh and lower abdomen. It seemed she had just missed his-

"Potter!"

"Evans!" James mocked her, sitting up abruptly and pulling the blankets over his lower half, not very discreetly. He must have noticed her staring, because he smirked and repeated what she had told him yesterday; "My eyes are up _here_, Evans."

Lily flushed and looked away, unable to meet his eyes.

"Evans, not that I'm complaining, but what the hell are you doing in my bed?" James asked rather bluntly.

"I had a nightmare," she mumbled. "It was all dark and there was this awful voice going through my head, saying 'alone', and repeating and repeating. I just didn't want to be alone."

James's heart melted in pity for Lily and he reached over to her, pulling her into his arms for a hug. She settled down beside him and leant against him, sighing.

"It's been a big few days, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, it has."

They were both starting to drift off to sleep again, Lily on top of the covers, and James under them, when the door opened and Sirius walked in, whistling.

"Morning, you two! I thought I heard voic- wow, those are some lovely pajamas you have there Evans, I bet Prongs really likes them. Have you been here all night?"

Lily and James woke for the second time that morning and Lily, only just remembering what she was wearing, tugged the shirt down in an attempt to hide her knickers from the room.

"I wouldn't do that, Evans," Sirius advised. "You're making that shirt very see-through."

"Sirius!"

"What, Prongs? It's not like you weren't looking too! Anyway, your mum says breakfast is ready."

With a quick glare at them both, Lily jumped off the bed and quickly crossed to the door.

"I'll be back soon; I'm just going to get er- decent."

Once she was gone, James let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and Sirius let out a bark of laughter. "She really was here all night wasn't she?"

James groaned. "Apparently. I just woke up and she was lying on me! Holy hippogriffs I need a shower." Throwing the covers back, he too strode across the room to the door. Sirius smirked.

"Better make it a cold one mate."

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**A/N: Leave me a review because it's my birthday in 16 days? ;) Hahaha I'm terrible!**

**-Sophia**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Sorry this upload took longer than usual, I went away unexpectedly for a few days! Thank you so much to IwillAKyou, moosemika, Oldmanmah and BasketballGirl1 for reviewing the last chapter, it really means a lot to hear what you think and that you're enjoying my story :) Especially thank you to IwillAKyou, your review made me smile like a crazy person! **

**Anyway, on with the story!**

* * *

Half an hour later, Sirius and Lily were gathered at the huge oak breakfast table off the kitchen Lily had been in yesterday, while James had dashed into the kitchen, supposedly to 'help'. Lily sat awkwardly at the table opposite Sirius, fidgeting with the hem of James's Quidditch jersey she was wearing again as she wondered what was expected to happen at breakfast time- did they make their own breakfast? Was Mrs Potter going to _serve_ them? Would it just appear at the table like it did at Hogwarts for the first feast of the year? ... The questions ran through her mind endlessly and she glanced at Sirius, trying to get a clue from what he was doing. Of course, he was no help. Sirius was lounging in his chair, balancing on the back legs and grinning at her lazily as he rocked back and forth. Catching her eye, he ignored the questioning look in hers and just grinned wider, waggling his eyebrows at her suggestively as he had done yesterday. Lily harrumphed and turned away, folding her arms in annoyance.

"Y'know, James will probably never wash that shirt again, Evans," Sirius said wickedly, watching the inevitable flush creep into her cheeks. "Hell, he'll probably hang it underneath his Gryffindor banner and smell it before he goes to bed and… well… _you know_. Or maybe he'll keep it locked up in a special box with all the other things of yours he's collected over the years- photos, notes… and don't think you'll ever be getting that delightful bra of yours back either. He might want to play dress-ups and-"

He broke off suddenly as Lily jumped up from her seat threateningly, her hand diving down to where her wand usually was, while at the same time James opened the door that connected the kitchen to the dining room, levitating platters heaped with food before him.

"What's going on?" James asked in bewilderment, watching as Lily realised she didn't have her wand and turned to him angrily.

"Give me your wand, Potter." She snapped. Sirius laughed in his usual barking way, which infuriated Lily even more. James set the food down on the table and backed away from Lily, hiding his wand behind his back.

"Give it to me! I swear to God if you don't give me it _right now,_ I'll hex you both so badly when I get mine back, you won't be able to walk for _months_!"

James looked at her in alarm, and then at Sirius, who was still rocking back on his chair legs with a smirk on his face.

"Er, Evans, mind telling me what happened before you threaten me with bodily harm?"

"Yeah, _Evans, _tell James why you're so mad…" Sirius drawled from across the room. "Give him a nice, long, explanation."

Lily growled in anger. Sirius knew full well she'd be too embarrassed to talk of things like that so bluntly. She gave him a death glare to rival anything she'd sent his way before, and plopped back into her seat. James approached the table cautiously, opting to sit next to Sirius instead of by Lily who was still radiating anger towards them both.

Sirius smirked at Lily once more before letting his front chair legs hit the ground. He rubbed his hands together in anticipation of the meal.

"Your mum's outdone herself his morning, James," he said in delight, eyes fixed on a platter of bacon in front of him.

James rolled his eyes. "Dig in Pads," he said, watching in mingled awe and disgust as his best friend pulled the plate towards him and loaded it up before reaching for the next one. "You too, Evans, help yourself."

Lily smiled at him and fixed her attention on the food on the table. He mouth opened slightly in shock as she registered just how much food there was- it was like a proper Hogwarts breakfast. There was bacon, sausages, fried mushrooms, onions and tomatoes, muffins, toast, eggs, cereal, yogurt… even fruit salad! She looked across at James, who was digging into a bowl of muesli.

"How on _earth_ are we going to eat all this?" She asked in disbelief, her previous anger at the pair of them gone.

James shrugged. "May as well try!" he grinned.

Lily stared at him for a moment more, before her stomach gave an immense grumble.

"I'd ead id befo' id's all gone" Sirius advised her through a mouthful of sausage. Lily rolled her eyes at him in disgust, before dragging the muffin stand towards her and getting stuck in.

Fifteen minutes later, there was much groaning from the dining room, mainly coming from Sirius. James slid down his chair, feet sprawling out in front of him and his arms coming up and back to support his head. He grinned at Sirius and Lily happily, missing the way Lily was ogling his exposed arms and catching Sirius's eye.

"What?" He asked, knowing Sirius was about to ask him a question by the look on his face.

"When's Simone coming?" Sirius asked.

"Who?" Both Lily and James said at the same time.

Sirius sighed, his fears coming to light ever since he had seen the two of them in James's bedroom. "Y'know. Simone Bouvier? _Your girlfriend?_"

_"What?!"_ Lily shrieked as James sat upright in his chair, his hand jumping into his hair as he remembered he had a girlfriend. "Your _what?_"

"His girlfriend, Evans."

"Hang on a second, Potter," Lily spat, face contorting in anger. "You rescue me, you carry me to your house, you hold my hand, you almost _kiss_ me, you let me _sleep in your bed_, and it didn't cross your tiny, stupid mind to tell me you had a girlfriend?!"

James stared at Lily in horror, his mouth open in slight shock as she yelled at him. She had come around the table now, her face livid as she prodded James's chest with every word.

"You- are- an- absolute- _prat_! And to think I had actually started to like you."

With that, Lily stormed out of the room, leaving one very shocked boy in her wake and one slightly apologetic boy. Fuelled on her anger and disgust in not only James, but herself, she half ran up the stairs to the room she was assigned to and walked inside, slamming the door after her. "Argh!" she cried in frustration, shoving her hands into her hair and pacing back and forth, pausing only to kick the bed ferociously. A sharp pain shot through her leg and she clutched it in her hands, hopping towards the offending piece of furniture to sit down, eyes focused on her toes that were throbbing painfully. Reaching the bed, Lily went to flop down on it, only to collide with someone already sitting on it.

"Aahh!" she screamed in shock, hands flying up to clutch at her pounding heart. "Who the bloody hell are you?"

The girl she had sat on stared at her icily, clearly affronted and not impressed at being assaulted by a stranger. "I might ask zee same ting!" she said, flicking back her long blonde hair. "Eet is not every day I find a streenge girl coming barging eento my bedroom!"

"_Your_ bedroom?" Lily cried, outraged. "This is _my _room, thank you very much!"

The blonde girl shook her head angrily. "Eet es not! Thees es always my room when I come and veeset James!"

Lily scoffed in disbelief, "Oh yeah, I'm sure you visit him _all the time_," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"I do! I happen to be hees girlfriend! Now I ask again, _who are you_?"

Lily's mouth opened, ready to retort, at the same time the door opened and James and Sirius burst in, panting.

The two girls turned to face the door as Sirius doubled over, forearms bracing against his knees as he tried to catch his breath, and James slumped against the doorframe, his chest heaving with exertion.

"Boys? What are you doing?" Came an obnoxiously French voice from beside Lily. "And who ees zis strange girl?"

Sirius smirked at the description of Lily being strange and lifted a hand to wave at them both.

"Hey Simone, good to see you too, as usual," he said, sarcasm lacing his voice. Lily quirked an eyebrow at him. Did he not like James's girlfriend? The thought strangely warmed Lily, but that nice feeling soon dissipated as Simone walked over to James hips swaying and hair swinging. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him close, greeting him in an entirely inappropriate manner in Lily's opinion. She dragged her eyes away from the couple embracing, her stomach feeling as though a large stone had settled in the pit of it and stared at her feet instead, waiting for them to finish. Finally, with a sound not unlike a plunger, James emerged from their kiss, his face a brilliant red as he avoided the gazes of both Lily and Sirius. Simone licked her lips and Sirius made a sound as though he was about to vomit. Simone glared at him and shook her hair back from where it had fallen in silky waves about her face. Lily had the sudden urge to tell her to buy a damn hair-tie.

"Why are you still here?" Simone demanded, staring at Lily, her arm snaking possessively around James's waist. James looked increasingly uncomfortable as Simone looked around the room expectantly, waiting for someone to speak up.

"She's er-" James started, before trailing off into silence.

"She's _what?_" Simone asked, her tone turning dangerous.

"She's my girlfriend." Sirius said quickly, looking anywhere but at James. But Lily glanced over at him, and what she saw filled her with anger. He wasn't even paying attention to them anymore- the reason he had trailed off wasn't because he had been stuck for what to say, it was because that absolute _slag_ Simone had not very subtlety snaked her hand down his trousers. Sirius had looked over at him too, surprised at the lack of reaction, only a second passing before the look of confusion on his face turned to disgust. His lip curled back in a sneer at the couple, and Lily knew exactly what she was going to do.

"Yep," she said brightly, hopping up off the bed and skipping over to where Sirius stood. James had looked up at the sound of her voice, and she could feel his eyes on her as she gazed into Sirius's face, saying "Sirius is my boyfriend, and I wouldn't change that for the world."

Ignoring the look of mild surprise on his face, Lily tilted her head upwards and pecked Sirius lightly on the lips, before sliding her hand into his and turning to face Simone and James.

_Now_ James was listening and looking.

If looks could kill, both Lily and Sirius would be very, very dead.

* * *

**A/N: So things have gotten a bit complicated! Stay tuned you lovely people!**

**-Sophia**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Sorry it took so long, I'll try my best to update sooner next time, life is just hectic at the moment!**

**Anyway, thank you so much for the reviews, BlondeLunaa, Ellen Potter, moosemika and IwillAKyou! It's really nice to get them :) And I mean REALLY nice! You guys rock.**

**This is a bit of a shorter chapter unfortunately, but it's building up to something bigger hehe ;)**

**Enjoy!**

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"What the hell, Evans!"

Sirius was pacing back and forth furiously in his bedroom ten minutes later, while Lily sat on his bed with her head in her hands, unable to comprehend what she had just done.

"I mean, _seriously_, what were you _thinking_?" He continued, he voice getting louder and louder with every word. "He's my _best friend_, and you think I can do this to him? God, Evans, you're so _stupid_ sometimes, how did you get to be Head Girl again?"

"Actu- wait, what? How do you know I'm Head Girl? I haven't told anyone!"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I just assumed, alright? Anyway, this is still all your fault."

"_Actually_, technically it's your fault because you were the one who said I was your girlfriend…"

"Yeah, but it's not like they even heard us, we totally could have said something else… I didn't think you'd agree with me, much less _kiss _me!"

Lily laughed lightly. "You think _that_ was a kiss? I thought you'd been with heaps of girls, surely you'd be able to tell the difference between a friendly peck and a kiss by now," she teased.

Sirius glared at her. "I do know the difference!"

Lily giggled at the look of outrage on his face and Sirius sighed, before flopping onto his bed next to her. The lay side by side in companionable silence for a while, each consumed by their own thoughts about the situation they had gotten themselves into- then a loud moan came from the room next door, shaking them back into the real world. An identical look of distaste spread over both their faces as they sat upright.

"Excuse me, I have to go obliviate myself," Lily said tightly, clambering to her feet.

"Evans, wait," Sirius called as she walked towards the door. "You may want to change your shirt if you want to keep up this act. Simone may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but even she's bound to notice if you're wandering around in James's jersey."

Lily looked down in surprise. "Oh yeah…" She said, unable to completely conceal the disappointment in her voice as she fidgeted with the soft fabric of the shirt. Sirius shot her a sympathetic look as he walked over to his own set of drawers and pulled out a weird sisters t-shirt and sweat pants. Throwing the shirt over his shoulder, he held out the pants which were clearly too large for her.

"Chuck us my wand, will you?" Sirius said, jerking his head towards his bedside table. Lily grabbed it and passed it over.

"What are you doing?" She asked curiously.

"Well, seeing as I actually have a brain, unlike James, I thought I'd transfigure these so they'll fit you."

"Huh," Lily said, surprised. "That's actually pretty smart."

Sirius grinned at her and tossed his head in a fairly accurate impression of Simone. "What can I say? I'm _breeleeint_!"

After transfiguring and shrinking the clothes to fit Lily (as well as charming the pants to be a bright pink colour, much to Lily's fury), Sirius chucked them over at her and motioned for her to get changed, before turning around and tapping his feet impatiently.

"Er, Sirius?" Lily said cautiously, "Do you think you could transfigure a shirt of yours into some, er, undergarments? It's just that I left my bra in Potter's room and well… I don't really want to go in there…"

During this speech, Sirius had turned around to face her, an evil grin spreading over his face. "Don't worry Evans, I know just what to do," he said wickedly, laughter dancing around his words. "Simone won't know what hit her!"

* * *

"And… action!" came a whisper from behind Lily, followed by a hand shooting out to open the door and the other giving her a shove so she stumbled inside. And that was how Lily once more found herself inside James Potter's room.

A screech from the bed drew her attention towards the bed, where, Lily realized with a jolt, a very shirtless James lay, looking at her in shock, while Simone, clad in only a bra and knickers scrambled at the sheets, trying to cover her body while she glared at Lily.

"What are you doing here?!" She demanded angrily. "You are ruieening everyting!"

Lily suppressed the urge to roll her eyes and bit back a retort- _remember the plan _she told herself. Dropping her eyes and glancing up through her eyelashes at the couple on the bed, she sashayed towards them, swinging her hips and cooing "Hey Jaaames…" Lily stopped by the bed and looked at James, ignoring Simone completely as she brushed her hair back from her face and around, exposing her creamy neck. James's face was twisted in confusion as he looked up at her.

"Er, yes?" He gulped.

Lily smiled at him sweetly. "I was just wondering if you had seen my bra. I think I left it in here after last night…Y'know, the red, lacy one?" She pretended to scan the room, biting back a laugh at the looks on James and Simone faces- James's look of horror only grew as Simone's look of fury intensified.

"Oh! Here it is!" Lily said, bending over to retrieve said bra from where she had kicked it yesterday as she changed- under James's bed. Feeling James's eyes on her, Lily exposed more leg than was strictly necessary, feeling the hem of his Quidditch jersey that she was still wearing, rise dangerously high, exposing the hem of the knickers she was wearing, having ditched the lily boxers at Sirius's orders. As she straightened up, bra dangling from her fingers, she only got a split seconds warning before Simone let out a war cry and leapt out of bed, launching herself at Lily and sending them both crashing to the ground. Lily yelled out in fright, fruitlessly dodging Simone's hands as they slapped clawed and pulled at Lily and her clothing.

"Steey- aweey- from- my- boyfreend!" She shrieked from her position above Lily, continuing her assault upon the redhead. Lily struggled from underneath her, but Simone was deadweight and unmovable- unless…

"Potter!" Lily cried, "Get her off me! Right now, you arse!"

At the sound of Lily's voice, James snapped out of his trance. It seemed that his favourite dream had come true- he was really seeing two girls rolling around in their underwear, fighting over him… And one of them was _Lily Evans_!

"Potter!"

James yelped and jumped out of bed, before jogging over to the door and yanking it open, exposing a shocked Sirius who tumbled inside as the door he was leaning on gave way

"Come on," James growled, before yanking Sirius to his feet. They both strode over to the two girls- Lily was now giving as good as she could get, refusing to take anymore from Simone, and Simone was currently straddling Lily, slapping her a mile a minute. Exchanging a look, James and Sirius got stuck in. Sirius grabbed Simone under her arms and hauled her up, holding her back as she struggled against his grip, determined to get to Lily, while Lily found herself being pulled off the ground by a pair of arms around her waist, before being drawn close to James's bare chest. Lily's stomach clenched pleasantly before her eyes were once again drawn to the wild figure of Simone who was flailing around in Sirius's arms.

"You beech!" She cried, "Get the 'ell away frim heem! Stop weering hees clothes you slut!" As the three of them watched her in horror, Simone dissolved into tears all the while, muttering under her breath in French. Sirius released her cautiously, and she ran out of the room. A second later, they heard a door slam.

Lily wriggled out of James's arms and made her way towards the door without looking at any of them, stopping only to retrieve her bra from the ground. She entered Sirius's room and got changed into her new clothes woodenly. That wasn't supposed to have happened.

Inside James's room, things were equally as quiet and awkward. Sirius cleared his throat and fixed his gaze on the giant Gryffindor banner.

"Prat," spat James, before stalking out of the room to give Lily a piece of his very angry mind. Sirius sank onto James's bed, head in his hands. It wasn't supposed to have gone like that.

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**A/N: I'm not too happy with this chapter, unfortunately :( I just couldn't get it out right! **

**Please, please leave a review if you've got time, they brighten my days :D**

**-Sophia**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: GUYS GUESS WHAT! It's ma birthday in four days! Whoop whoop! AND I'm pretty happy with this cahpter :D Tahnk you very much to: DerangedDynamic, BlondeLunaa, IwillAKyou, and MissyMoo for reviewing, you guys are brilliant, and I really appreciate the feedback- I completely agree that it was a bit out of character for Lily to act as she did, I might go back and edit that later, but I have tried to explain it a bit in this one :) You guys are making me laugh with your reviews too, you know who you are... *winks* BITCHFIGHT! Hehe anyway, read on faithful followers!**

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He found her lying on the ground staring blankly at the ceiling.

"Evans," James snapped, jolting her out of her daze. She turned her head to face him wearily.

"What the bloody hell was that?" James growled, anger twisting his features. "What were you trying to _do_? Break us up? Was that it? Do you really hate me so much; despise me that much, that you can't bear the thought that I might have actually been _happy_?" He threw his hands up in the air in frustration. "You _disgust_ me."

At those three words, something snapped inside Lily, and she rose to her feet, bristling with unshed anger- anger towards Simone, for letting her attack her, anger towards Sirius for letting him go against her gut feeling and take part in a plan that was destined to cause nothing but trouble, anger towards the Death Eaters and all that was against her 'kind', but most of all, anger towards that absolute _arse_ James Potter who towered above her now, an intimidating figure in the darkness of Sirius's room.

James met Lily's gaze, and relished the look on her face; green eyes narrowed, jaw set and chin jutting out- these were all signs that a fight was surely about to take place. And James was buzzing for it.

"_I _disgust _you_?" Lily started, her voice dangerously low. "Will you just look at yourself? Talk about trying to make someone unhappy! You _ruined my life_, what, with your immature pranks and teasing, the _constant_ fighting, destroying Severus and my friendship-"

"Oh please Evans, like you hadn't seen that one coming anyw-"

"You didn't have to speed it up!" Lily cried. "And that's not even the worst thing you did! No, the worst would have to be the _constant_ chasing me, asking me out every second of the day, not leaving me alone even-"

"You think it was easy for me, too? You think having to be rejected again and again and _again_ was easy, huh? Think it was _fun_ to have the girl of your dreams tell you she'd rather date a large slimy sea mammal than you?"

"Oh please, don't act like this wasn't all just a big game to you!"

"A game, Evans, is that what you thought this was?" James growled, stepping towards her menacingly. Lily took a step back.

"Yes, Potter, a game. You chase me for four years, and when you finally get a reaction that isn't completely bad, you up and leave, find yourself a new, _French_, girlfriend!"

Lily felt her back hit the hard wall behind her as she uttered the word 'girlfriend'. It seemed she had ran out of backing up space. Her breath hitched as James's hands hit the wall on either side of her head, framing her face and supporting his weight as he leaned down to lock eyes with her.

"A reaction that wasn't bad? Evans, you have never, _ever_ shown me a reaction that wasn't bad."

"Yes I have," Lily said quickly. She was finding it hard to breathe when James was so close to her, and the lack of oxygen was making her brain perform poorly.

"Oh yeah? Name one time then."

"I can't just _name a time_!" Lily cried, incensed. "There wasn't just a _time_ when I stopped disliking you! You just don't get it, do you? Asking me to name a time is like asking Godric Gryffindor to come out of the grave; _impossible_. God James, you're so- so… unperceptive!"

Lily stopped speaking and glared up at James furiously. Her chest was heaving with emotion and breathlessness from their argument, her hair had fallen around her face in waves, dishevelled from her fight with Simone, her face was flushed and she looked ridiculous in the bright pink pants she was wearing.

James thought she had never looked so beautiful. He shifted his body closer to her, moving so his face was directly level with hers and his torso grazed hers. James heard her sharp intake of breath and smirked inwardly. Maybe this was what she meant by reactions that weren't bad- she had made no move to get away from him. James ducked his head around so his mouth was hovering beside her ear. He heard Lily swallow, and his stomach clenched in pleasure.

"Unperceptive, eh?" He whispered, lips brushing against the sensitive skin below her jawbone

"Uh-huh," Lily breathed.

"Then why do I know that your favourite food is treacle tart? And that you have to always have matching socks on or you won't be able to concentrate during the day? And if I'm unperceptive, how come I know you really do love lilies, but pretend not to, because it's clichéd, that you always use the same brand of quill to write with, even though they went out of fashion years ago, and that your favourite holiday is Halloween, because it incorporates both of your worlds into the celebrations?"

James shifted his head to the other side of her neck and dropped a feather-light kiss on her collar bone, before travelling up slowly, leaving a trail of soft kisses in his wake.

"And how come, if I'm so very _unperceptive_, I know that you'll like it when I do this?" James tilted his head for better access and launched his assault on Lily's neck, sucking and kissing the silky skin like there was no tomorrow.

Lily gasped and tipped her head back, her stomach exploding as his warm lips travelled up and down her neck. James took that gasp as encouragement and nipped her softly with his teeth, eliciting a much louder gasp from her. Lily reached her arms around his neck and drew him closer to her, revelling in the feeling of his strong, bare shoulders under her hands as she roamed around them freely. James pulled back slightly and grinned at her.

"Was I right?" He asked, voice husky.

"I s'pose 'unperceptive' was the wrong word to use," Lily conceded, before pulling his head towards her once more, adrenaline still pumping through her veins, all thoughts of the consequences out the window.

Their first kiss wasn't sloppy or clumsy, like many are- one does not simply receive a clumsy kiss from James Potter.

Kissing James wasn't like anything Lily had experienced before. It wasn't sweet and short, a chaste kiss; it was long and hot, full of the passion and need they had both been denying themselves for so long. James's hands moved from framing Lily's face to cupping it, one hand on her cheek and one holding the base of her neck securely, fingers intertwined in her long hair. Lily's hands didn't stay still; they roamed over James's bare torso, buried themselves in his hair, fiddled with the waistband of his jeans… when James tilted his head to deepen their kiss, Lily knew she was gone. Her knees wobbled and threatened to give way, something that James noticed and dealt with by lifting her up so that her legs tangled around his waist. Lily squeaked at the sudden change in height, and James smiled into the kiss, before nibbling on her lower lip and causing a moan to escape Lily. She blushed at the wanton noise that came from her, but ignored James's chuckle and set about making him do the same. She removed her hands from in his hair where they were currently residing, and trailed them lightly down his front, before moving to the back of his body and scraping her nails gently over his muscled skin. James inhaled sharply as her hands wandered dangerously low, but just as quickly they had moved back up and were caressing his shoulders once more, kneading them softly as she licked his bottom lip. James moaned and Lily broke away from him with a triumphant grin on her face, but only for a second before James rolled his eyes and drew her back to him again. Lily giggled softly against his mouth and James thought his heart would surely explode with from the happiness that was currently swelling inside his chest.

Happiness that deflated rapidly as a voice floated down the hallway.

"James? Wheere are you?"

"Shit!" Lily cried, jumping down from James. "_Shit_! What were we doing?! We can't cheat on Simone and Sirius!"

James chuckled. "Lily, you're not actually dating Sirius, you realise that, don't you?"

A glare. "_Yes_, but you _are_ dating Simone-" She stopped speaking as James clapped a hand over her mouth. "Murmfff," she tried, brows furrowing.

James just nodded his head towards the door, and Lily froze as footsteps moved past the door. She let out a breath as they entered James's room and Simone's voice could be heard asking Sirius where James was. James knew it was only a matter of time before she came in here, and he'd have to go back to Sickly Simone for the time being, a terrible fate after experiencing Lily Evans- so he lowered his head and kissed Lily soundly on the mouth. This was clearly a mistake on his behalf, as she tore her lips away and glared at him.

"I will not be the _other_ woman, Potter!" She spat angrily, shoving him back, hard.

"Come on Lils, you know I'd rather be with you than Simone," he whispered urgently, hearing the door open and close down the hall.

"Prove it then," Lily whispered back, before walking quickly across the room to sit on the edge of the bed and adopting an angry pose, arms folded across her chest and eyes narrowed at James, who clicked onto her plan and stood, hands on hips, looking down at her.

* * *

That was how Simone found them when she burst in, unannounced, a second later.

"James! What are you doeeng?" She said, looking between the two. "And why do you 'ave scratches down your back?"

Lily flushed. Maybe she hadn't been as gentle as she thought.

"Just talking to Evans," he replied easily. "And you were getting pretty feisty before, when we had to break you too up."

Simone scowled at Lily. "Sorry," she said insincerely.

Lily barely managed not to roll her eyes at the girl. "It's fine. I was just telling James here how I thought we should all go out to dinner tonight to get to know each other a bit better!"

Biting back a laugh at the horrified looks on both Simone and James's face, Lily pushed herself up off the bed and sauntered out to get Sirius and tell him of her plan. _This_ one would work, of course. She designed it, after all.

* * *

After briefing Sirius on the plan, Lily skipped downstairs to the kitchen, her mood elated from the way the events of the day had turned around.

She rounded a corner and promptly crashed into Mrs Potter who was frowning down at a copy of the Daily Prophet as she walked.

"Oops!" Lily said with a laugh, arms shooting out to steady the older woman who had stumbled slightly. "Sorry!"

Mrs Potter smiled distractedly and patted her arm, mumbling nonsensically.

"Er, Mrs Potter? Are you alright?" Lily asked cautiously.

"Fine, Dear," she replied, patting Lily's arm again and walking off. Lily stared after her for a second- that wasn't the Mrs Potter she had come to know and like. Shaking off the feeling of unease, she continued on her path to the kitchen. Flooing Marlene couldn't be put off any longer!

* * *

Or could it? Lily groaned and kicked the hearth in frustration after checking the pot on the mantle for floo powder. How could it be that there wasn't any?

"Tinky!" She called out, jumping slightly when the small elf appeared next to her elbow.

"What does Miss Lily need?" The elf squeaked, looking up at Lily with large milky eyes. Lily repressed a shudder. House elves had never really been her cup of tea.

"Uh, I was just wondering if there was any floo powder? We seem to be all out!"

The elf shook her head sadly at Lily. "No, sorry Miss! The D-d-death Eaters have stolen all the floo powder from suppliers, so households only had what was left to use! And Mr Potter sir used it all up this morning to get to work!"

Lily stared at Tinky incredulously. "You're kidding, right? Who on earth would want to steal _floo powder_? What's the point?"

"It's so that they can f-f-force people to take use other methods of transport to get places, like brooms and apparation, and w-w-walking!" Tinky informed her nervously.

"Huh,"said Lily. "That makes sense. Easier to attack… Wait… does this mean I won't be able to get home tonight? I'll have to stay here longer?"

"Unless Miss Lily wants to walk or fly, yes!"

Lily's eye twitched at the mention of flying. "I guess I'm stuck, then." She sighed, before waving goodbye to the creature by her side and trudging up the stairs again.

She was stuck, for who knows how long, with James, Simone and Sirius.

Oh heyall.

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**A/N: OH HEYALL! See what I'm doing here? Building layers... foreshadowing... ;) Hopefully these techniques will prompt you all to review! (An early birthday present, perhaps? ;)) Haha love you guys!**

**-Sophia**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: It's been a while! And all I can say is sorry, and on with the story! It is far too late and I am far too tired to write anything else! (It's kinda funny because it's not really that late where I am, I'm just insanely tired haha) As always, thank you all for the reviews, you know how much they mean to me!**

**Enjoy :)**

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_Dear Mum, Dad, and Petunia_

_I know I was supposed to be coming home from Marlene's this afternoon but there has been a change of plan! Somebody has stolen all the floo powder (the stuff I use to get from place to place), and so I'm stuck unless I want to fly home by broomstick, and I don't. I'm staying at James Potter's house until the situation gets sorted out, but shouldn't be more than a few days, a week at the most, don't worry. _

_James Potter's family is very respectable, Mum, and his parents are here, as well as Sirius Black, and his girlfriend Simone._

_I'll be fine, don't worry about me, and I'll see you soon! _

_Love, _

_Lily._

_Lily dear, _

_Are you sure you can't fly home? You know it is Petunia's rehearsal dinner in a few days and she'll be very upset if you aren't there. Even if you aren't a bridesmaid, I'm sure she'd really appreciate it if you came; you two are sisters, after all._

_And who is this boy you are staying with? Why aren't you staying at Marlene's?_

_We have a lot to talk about when you get home, young lady. _

_Love, _

_Mum, Dad and Petunia._

_Mum, _

_You know Petunia would be glad if I didn't turn up. _

_And I've told you about James before- the immature one, remember? Marlene is coming over tomorrow, so there will be even more supervision on me! _

_Love,_

_Lily._

_Lily Evans,_

_You know your sister cares about you! She will be extremely disappointed if you don't turn up, as will I. _

_You had better be there, in appropriate dress, and with a date, at seven pm. The restaurant is called 'Mango,' but feel free to come home first, if it fits into your life. _

_I don't know what to do with you sometimes, Lily. One minute you hate this boy and now you're staying at his house! Marlene must be there or you will be grounded when you come home._

_Love,_

_ Mum._

_Mars,_

_I know there's no floo powder, but could you pretty pretty please with a cherry on top come to James's house tomorrow and bring some clothes for me as well as my wand? I already told my mum you were coming so I'm dead if you don't! And James says it's fine and that there is a less than zero percent chance of you being attacked while flying (although he didn't tell me why), so you'll be fine! Not that you don't like taking risks. _

_I'd love you forever if you came!_

_Love love love, _

_Lily._

_Lily,_

_I don't like cherries, remember? Sigh._

_But I suppose I can brave the dangers of the outside world and come to you. _

_See you tomorrow! _

_Marlene the Great._

_P.S Since when do you call James, James? Be prepared for questioning Lily Evans, I know there's something you're not telling me!_

_P.P.S I hope you're alright since the hide and seek thing. Love you._

_Marlene,_

_Thank you, thank you, thank you! I owe you! _

_See you soon!_

_Love, _

_Lily._

_P.S Yes, I'm mainly fine, just not dwelling on it. Love you too._

_Mum, _

_I'll try my best to come, but I can't promise anything. I'll see you when I see you._

_I have to go now._

_Love,_

_Lily._

* * *

Letting out a deep sigh Lily fixed the last two notes to Marlene and her Mum to James's owl and watched as it set off out the window into the sunset. She waited until it was just a speck on the horizon before getting to her feet and stretching, loosening out the kinks in her back. She was suddenly very exhausted and every step she took out of the owlery in the west wing of the Potter mansion took more effort than the last. When she finally reached the kitchen, it was all she could do to slump down at the large dining table. The excitement of the last two days were fast catching up to her, and as she rested her head upon her forearms for just a second, she felt herself drifting off into a dreamless slumber.

A loud squeak followed by a crash woke her half an hour later and she jerked upright, looking around the room wildly for the source of the noise.

"Sorry Miss Lily!" cried a voice from beside the leg of her chair. She looked down and took in the quivering form of Tinky the house elf.

"Tinky was startled and Tinky didn't mean to wake Miss Lily!" To Lily's astonishment the little elf started banging her head against the chair leg while chanting "Bad Tinky, bad Tinky!" The vibrations from the force of which Tinky was hitting her head against Lily's chair got more and more violent until Lily reached out apprehensively and took the small creature's shoulders and pushed her away from the chair.

"Er- Tinky. It's fine. There's no need to, um, punish yourself." Glancing away awkwardly as she tried to find suitable words to stop a house elf from hurting itself, her eyes found the large clock on the wall. Lily let out a shout of shock, all thoughts of Tinky flying out of her mind.

"Seven o'clock?! Thank you for waking me up Tinky, I owe you!" she yelled over her shoulder, already halfway out the door and into the corridor.

Less than a minute later she burst into Sirius's room, panting.

"Come on, Black! We need to go to dinner!"

Sirius gave her a look, eyebrows raised.

"Evans, I am _not_ going to dinner with you looking like that. Go and take a bloody shower while I transfigure you an outfit. Merlin knows you need one; I don't know how James didn't wake up when you bought that smell into his bed last night."

Lily gasped, affronted. "Black! How dare you! Why, you arrogant little-"

"Alright, alright! You're not that bad, okay? But you do need to take one; you're looking a bit bedraggled. The plan won't work if you're not looking delicious."

"Humph." Lily turned on her heel and stalked towards the door.

"Third on your left," came Sirius's amused voice from her behind her.

"I knew that," Lily said, before exiting the room and making her way towards the bathroom. When she reached the door that apparently contained the bathroom, she hesitated slightly, not wanting to disturb anyone who could be lurking inside. Oh to hell with it! She thought, and heaved the heavy oak door open. She made it barely two steps inside before the grandeur of the room stopped her in her tracks. No way was this the bathroom Sirius and James used.

The room was much larger than she had expected, and was a pristine white all over, from tile floor to the papered walls, with gold accents warming the room in the form of taps and wall edging. To Lily's left was a deep, octagonal bath the size of a small pool set into the floor, with warm water already inside, the steam rising from the surface in spirals and shimmering slightly in the golden light from the tiny lights inset in the ceiling that looked like tiny golden stars. On the wall above the pool-bath were racks and racks of fluffy white towels adorning the wall. Lily tore her gaze from them and saw that to her right was a vanity sink. But not just any sink. This one was larger than any she had ever seen before and was entirely made out of marble. The sink was large and square, with a huge mirror stretching from wall to wall above it. A small stool covered in ruffled white and gold material sat in front of the structure, an arch in the vanity where her knees would be able to rest easily.

Lily finally remembered to close her mouth, before making her way over to the sink and opening one of the many gold-handled drawers at random. It was filled with nail polishes of every shade she could ever have imagined. She shut that and opened another drawer. Cotton buds, balls and wipes were stacked inside neatly, while another drawer contained stacks and stacks of eye shadows. It seemed this vanity contained everything. At least she wouldn't need to worry about having no make up, she thought in relief. Letting out a shaky breath, Lily made her way towards the bath. She wasn't really a bath person, but it was hard to think about that when she was presented such a magnificent specimen. Halfway there, however, she noticed a door she hadn't seen at first. It was the same white as the walls and blended in- the only reason she had noticed it at all was because there was a golden handle jutting out of the wall. Lily opened the door curiously and found herself looking down a short corridor illuminated by the same lights from the ceiling, only they were in the walls at ankle height, lighting the way like an aeroplane landing strip. She came out of the corridor, looked up and stared straight into her own eyes. The entire back wall was a mirror.

"Oh God…" Lily mumbled. She wasn't exactly ashamed of her body, but the thought of having to see herself showering was off-putting.

"Go away, mirror…" she grumbled, turning her eyes away from the offending wall feature just in time to miss seeing it shimmer and disappear. Instead, Lily was examining the contents of a wall hanging cupboard. There were hairdryers, straightners and curlers inside that could easily have been the property of Evelyn Winters, winner of Witch Weekly's best hair for 1975, and Marlene's idol. Thinking of what her friend's reaction would be to the hair products made Lily chuckle, and with a smile on her face she turned around to face the previously mirrored wall. The smile slid off her face like a knife through butter when she realised it wasn't there anymore.

"What the…" Bemused, Lily shook her head and walked to the glass shower that spread over the entire length of the room- almost three metres- and had shower heads at both ends. Lily whistled in appreciation before stripping off and climbing inside. The water came on automatically.

"Gaah!" she cried in shock. "How do I turn the temperature down? It's bloody hot!"

Instantly, the water cooled down to a bearable degree.

"Oookay…Shampoo?"

Shampoo dropped down from the ceiling in a stream, and Lily hastily stuck her head underneath the stream. It didn't stop coming out, though, and soon it was running into her eyes and mouth, dripping onto the shower floor.

"Stop!" she yelled, spitting shampoo out of her mouth and screwing her eyes up in pain. Hopping around and shaking her head in agony Lily cursed ferociously.

"Bloody shower!" she ground out angrily, just before she hopped directly below the shower head and bashed her forehead against it.

"Don't you dare bruise!" reaching an arm out towards the wall to stabilise herself, and lifting her other hand to touch the lump on her head gingerly.

Of course, the stabilising thing did not quite go to plan. She undershot by about three centimetres and at the same time as her hand was flailing around, her foot landed in a puddle of the shampoo that had flooded out of the ceiling only moments earlier, causing both feet to fly out from underneath her and deposit her flat on her arse. Lily bit her lip to stop the expletives from flowing forth along with the tears of pain that had welled up in her eyes. Not wanting to risk standing up again, Lily crawled to the shower doors and pushed them open, before making her way carefully down the corridor on her hands and knees and into the huge bath inside the first room. She sighed as she sunk into the neck deep water. Maybe baths were alright after all.

After she had safely managed to clean herself in the bath with no major accidents-banging her hip on a sneaky underwater tap didn't count- she climbed out carefully and wrapped herself in a huge towel, then shuffled over to the vanity to sit down.

Seeing as there was no way she was entering the shower chamber of death again, Lily resigned herself to the thought that she'd just have to go to dinner with wet hair. Or maybe not, actually… Reaching out and closing her hand over a golden handle, Lily said "hairdryers" loudly and clearly, and then pulled the drawer open. Sure enough, there was a hairdryer. Lily squeaked in excitement and proceeded to get ready for the evening using this new technique.

* * *

"Black! Can I come in yet?"

Lily had been standing out in the corridor in her towel for the last five minutes, and her patience was starting to wear thin.

"No yet, Evans! I'm not done!"

"Oh for Gods sake! What if someone sees me in my towel?!"

"I bet they'd like that a lot," came a cheeky voice from behind her. Lily whirled around in time to see James disappear into his own room with a towel around his hips.

"Hey!" she yelled indignantly after him. A girl had to have at least a little respect for herself.

"Alright Evans, you can come in now!"

"Finally," Lily grumbled as she turned the handle to his room and trudged inside. Sirius was standing in the centre holding up a… thing on a coat hanger and beaming proudly. "Ta daa!" he said, waving the thing at Lily. "Come try it on!"

"Oh _hell_ no." The thing was hideous. There was no way she was going to wear that to dinner. It looked like Sirius had blended the grey curtains from his windows and the magenta bedspread together to form some sort of toga shaped dress with absolutely no shape, which would surely hang down to her mid-calf if she put it on. Evidentially, Sirius had thought it was too plain, and had therefore taken a garish bright green and red polka-dot tie and attached it to the 'dress' so it acted as a collar- although it only reached around one side of the neckline. The whole thing was truly horrid.

"What?" Sirius looked at her, a crestfallen look spreading over his face.

"Er- I'm just shocked you made it all by yourself," Lily lied, missing the mischievous glint in his eye. "It's really really good! Are you sure you're not gay? You've got a brilliant eye for fashion!"

Her painfully sincere sounding comments were too much for Sirius to take, and he burst out laughing, clutching his sides for breath.

"You prat!" Lily laughed, whacking him on the arm. "Alright, where's the real one?"

Still giggling, Sirius made his way to the wardrobe and pulled out a midnight blue dress with a v neck and a light, floaty, chiffon skirt. Lily smiled widely. "That's more like it!"

After shimmying into it and giving herself a once-over in the mirror, she took Sirius's outstretched arm and, taking a deep breath, followed him downstairs

* * *

**A/N: Not meaning to be blackmaily here or anything... ;) But if you would be so kind as to review it would make me infinitely more motivated, and therefore chapters would come out much faster! It's a win-win situation: I'm happy, you're happy. So review! (Please?)**

**Happy new year if I do not get the chance to wish you so before then :)**

**-Sophia**


	11. Chapter 11

**LAST TIME: Lily was in the shower, getting ready for her date with Sirius, James and Simone. She was very clumsy!**

* * *

In Lily's opinion, dinner had gone wonderfully. It started out with Sirius asking questions, as usual.

* * *

"Where are we even going if we can't floo anywhere?" Sirius asked as they stepped out into the long, dark corridor.

"Er, the Red Room? I got a house elf to sort it out before I went to the owlery, it should be all date-like."

"The Red Room? But Evans, it will clash with your hair!"

Their light banter continued as they made their way through the large house, only trailing off as they stopped outside a heavy oak door with a gold plate fixed to it, simply reading 'Red'. Lily took a deep breath and turned to face Sirius, a solemn look upon her face.

"Okay, Black. No funny business, alright? We stick to the plan- make James jealous and Simone insecure. You know what to do, and if you don't, I'll tell Amelia Bones that you cheated on her with Marlene in a broom cupboard in Sixth. Okay?" Lily finished off with a sweet smile that had Sirius gulping in fear. Amelia Bones was a very fearsome girl, and a scorned Amelia Bones would be scarier than usual. He nodded vigorously, indicating his understanding.

"Got it. Although I have to say, this is very un-Evansy of you. I never would have picked you for a plotty girl. More of a Hestia thing, don't you think?"

At this, Lily laughed wickedly. "Don't ever underestimate any girl, Black. Especially when _things_ like Simone are involved. Let's go."

Nodding again in slight fear, Sirius grabbed Lily's hand and pushed the door open to reveal a low-lit dusky red room with silver and blue enhancements. The entire room had been set up as a classic date scene, with booths and a bar, all attended to by house elves. They made their way over to the booth where James and Simone were currently sitting, weaving in and out of the tables that were set up across the room. It really was set up like a real bar, and Lily was extremely impressed. Clearly, Simone was not so much. She had been trying to talk to James about something no doubt absolutely fascinating, but when Lily and Sirius entered the room, his attention was diverted and her futile efforts were lost on him. Lily couldn't help but to smirk when Simone crossed her arms and slumped back in disgruntlement, eying the approaching couple in something akin to obvious disgust. Only for a second though- her immaculate French breeding didn't allow her posture to fail her for more than a second, and she straightened up almost immediately, smoothing down the non-existent creases in her tight black dress with geometric shapes slashed out of it. Simone and James stood as Lily and Sirius drew closer and Lily felt frumpier by the second. Her blue dress had seemed perfectly adequate in the relative privacy of Sirius's room, but now, even from a distance, she could tell that Simone out shone her ten to one. Lily had to take action, and fast. She tugged gently on Sirius's arm, and once she had his attention, Lily slipped her hand to the back of his neck and drew him close, at the same time backing them against a squashy red faux-leather bench.

"Er, Evans? What are you doing?" Sirius whispered.

"I am seducing you for a second so you can change my dress into something more, um, sexy."

"I thought you'd never ask," Sirius breathed against her neck. Lily felt something hard digging into her hip and she flushed.

"Black! When I said I was seducing you I don't mean for real!" She gasped in shock, cheeks heating up.

"Relax, Evans. It's my wand." Shooting Lily a devious wink, Sirius murmured a spell under his breath and Lily suddenly felt a lot more… exposed.

"Black…" She said warningly.

"Don't worry Lils, it's subtle." With that not quite erasing her fears, Sirius gave a bellowing laugh and slung his arm around Lily's waist, pulling her flush against him before advancing forward, still chuckling merrily as if Lily had told a hilarious joke.

"Relax," He hissed into her ear. "Can't you see the look on James's face? Looks like your plan is already working."

Lily glanced up at James as they came to a stop in front of him and Simone. Sure enough, his face was a mixture of emotions: anger directed towards Sirius, plain jealousy, envy, and, as his eyes raked over Lily's body, a hint of approval and admiration. Simone looked livid. Lily smirked. The plan was indeed working.

After a flurry of air kisses and polite greetings as though the group hadn't seen each other in weeks, not just hours, they were seated, and thanks to a sneaky manoeuvre by Sirius that made her think he had done it often, Lily found herself in the closed off corner of the booth, opposite James and next to Sirius. This was the perfect spot for part of the plan, and sure enough, half an hour into the date and halfway through her main course of Moroccan chicken, when Lily excused herself to go to the bathroom to 'freshen up', it was highly useful. She had stood up and brushed her hands over her dress in much the same way as Simone had done earlier, only her movements drew James's eyes to her body, and most importantly, her movements.

Biting back the laugh that threatened to bubble out of her, Lily made a show of dragging her body across Sirius's to get out of the booth. Her silky satin dress slid across his crisp button down shirt and as Lily faked a loss of balance, Sirius 'caught' her around her waist, his hands sliding across the smooth fabric and dipping dangerously low-

James growled low in his throat.

Pinching the skin on the back of her hand to maintain her serious demeanour, Lily, along with everyone else, looked at James, her face a picture of innocent surprise.

"James? What ees eet?" Simone asked, draping herself over his side.

"Nothing, just banged er-my knee on the table." James said, shaking her off and returning his gaze to the salt and pepper jars that were residing in the centre of the table.

Triumphant, Lily made her way to the bathroom, which was attended to by a small house elf by the name of- Lily peered at the nametag- Moby. Moby opened the door grandly which added to the hilarity that was building inside of her.

Once inside, Lily took a few deep breaths to calm herself down, and looked in the wide mirror to assess her new dress. The dress wasn't what caught her attention first though, it was her face. She was flushed and looked as thought she had just been on a five hour hike. That wouldn't do. Lily took a facecloth and dampened it with cold water before pressing it to her face gently, taking care not to smudge her makeup. As she waited for her complexion to return to normal, Lily took a step back and looked in the mirror at her newly improved dress. Surprisingly, Sirius had done an excellent job; the hem had risen a few inches and it clung to her body a bit more, but overall the dress was largely the same, and as he had promised, it was very subtle.

Grinning, Lily made her way out of the bathroom and joined the others again. Hopefully Sirius had done his job while she had been in the bathroom- she had certainly given him enough time!

He had.

As James watched Lily sway her was out of the room and disappear into the bathroom, Simone spoke up immediately. She had clearly been waiting for Lily to leave so she could talk about the girl, and as her eyes were fixed on Sirius, she had guess he'd be more forthcoming with information then James had been on the occasions Simone had asked him about Lily, jealousy lacing her voice with every question.

"So, Seereeous, how deed you meet Lely?" She asked, leaning forward and exposing her ample cleavage to his wandering eyes. A wicked grin soared across Sirius's face and James felt dread pool in his insides. He looked as if Simone had just given him the opening he'd been waiting for all night (which he had), and his reply made the dread in James's stomach leap and seize up.

"James introduced us, actually," Sirius had said pleasantly.

"Oh? I deedn't know they were friends?" Simone said, shooting James a menacing look.

"We're not," he said.

"Oh no, they were much more than just friends, Simone. James used to ask her out every day since halfway through second year, but Lily said no every time. I guess it's for the best that he's moved on, but-" here, Sirius stopped briefly to turn his gaze to the heavens and sigh sadly- "when a girl holds your heart for the best part of six years, it's hard to truly let go… I'm just lucky Lily chose me and you asked James out… Anyway, how are your thanksgiving preparations going?" Sirius finished off his speech with an earnest smile for Simone as he studiously ignored the looks he was getting from the furious couple. Simone looked as if she wanted to stab something, and James just wanted to stab Sirius, preferably in the mouth, until he couldn't talk. Ever again. Ever. But he did.

"Oh look there's Lily! She's a fox in bed, eh James- remember last week when you me and her snuck into your Dad's library and-"

"Hey guys! Sorry I took so long, what did I miss?" Lily smiled, giving Sirius a quick kiss on the cheek before sliding into the boot opposite James once more. James's stomach clenched bitterly as he watched the simple exchange between the two. He couldn't wait for the night to be over. However, there was still dessert to come.

To be fair, all the food was delicious. The cooking wasn't the reason it all tasted rubbery and thick in James's mouth. It was the company, and the reason they were all gathered around the table together. What a group they made.

There was him, his best (or former best) friend Sirius, who was with Lily, the girl James was in love with, who was using said best friend against James to make him jealous, and his own date Simone who he was only dating to get over Lily, insecure. What a mess. And deep down inside his stomach, a leaden feeling was settling down, filling him with unease. It just wasn't right. This wasn't the Lily he had fallen for when he was twelve and couldn't get over even now. That Lily was kind and caring and funny, and would never go out of her way to manipulate people into doing her bidding and making them feel bad about themselves. This wasn't her, and it wasn't nice, or funny. James couldn't wait for Marlene to get here so they could intervene.

It all just needed to stop.

* * *

**A/N: Yeah I suck for taking so long, sorry guys :( But I'm halfway through the next chapter already!**

**-Sophia**


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